Flight Schools Having Difficulty Finding Instructors To Teach New Pilots

The pilot shortage that is looming for the airline industry has already hit GA, and that has the manufacturers of general aviation airplanes concerned.

An enterprise report in the Wichita Business Journal points out that the number of active private pilots fell from 241,045 to 188,001 from 2002 to 2012, and the declining number of private pilots is filtering down through flight schools, and airplane sales.

While there is a segment of the population ... business owners mostly 40 and above ... that is still expressing an interest in learning to fly, younger people do not think they have the resources to throw at getting a pilot certificate simply for the pleasure of flying. And some flight schools, such as Kansas State University, are having trouble finding qualified flight instructors to teach the ones that do.

FAA statistics show that while there are fewer active private pilots, the number of student pilots entering training is growing ... but they don't finish or go on to get instrument or commercial tickets. Factors cited include time and cost ... and the price of operating an airplane is not likely to go down significantly, at least any time soon.

FMI: www.faa.gov